The present disclosure generally relates to a system for adjusting the position of the wheels of a walk behind mower relative to the mower deck to adjust the height of cut for the mower. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a height of cut adjustment system that includes a single drive motor that is operable to adjust the height of the mower deck and thus the height of cut for the mower.
Walk behind lawn mowers include a mower deck that is supported by a plurality of wheels located in the four corners of the mower deck. The mower deck supports an internal combustion engine or electric motor that is operable to rotate a cutting blade that cuts the grass beneath the deck as the cutting blade rotates. The four wheels used to support the mower deck are typically adjustable to modify the height of cut of the walk behind mower.
Presently, many different mechanisms and systems are available to adjust the position of the plurality of wheels relative to the mower deck to adjust the height of cut. Many mechanisms allow each of the plurality of wheels to be independently adjusted to change the height of cut of the walk behind mower. Although these systems are currently in use, the independent adjustment of each of the four wheels of the walk behind mower requires the operator to make sure that each wheel is adjusted to the same height to avoid uneven cutting.
Several methods and systems have been developed to simultaneously adjust each of the wheels of the walk behind mower through a linkage assembly such that the operator is required to manually activate only a single handle to adjust all four wheels. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,729,116 and 6,339,918 illustrate embodiments of such linkage assembly to adjust the four wheels of a walk behind mower. Although these systems allow the wheels of the mower to be simultaneously adjusted to the same height, currently available systems still require the manual activation of a handle or lever to adjust the wheel height. The manual adjustment requires the user to remember the desired position for the wheels and requires physical effort to actuate the linkage assembly.